: : : : That's handy for origin, but it doesn't say what it means
- "tipping" would imply the use of a tip - eg the tip of a tongue
- "the velvet" well the tongue does have a velvety quality - whilst
the expression initially suggests using the tip of the tongue, I
guess it refers to cunnilingus, as a woman's "secret garden" could
also be described as "the velvet", could it not?

: : : It didn't say what it means. And I don't think I want to
know.

: : I've seen the light. There's a series on BBC America -- Tipping
the Velvet. I've only watched part of an episode but it's about
two young women in love. Or something like it.

: velvet The vagina. Although literary from th 19th century, an
affectionate, if rarely used, word to describe the female sexual
organs. Partridge also notes the interesting 'tip the velvet' meaning
cunnilingus.
: From _The Slanguage of Sex_ by Brigid McConville & John
Shearlaw
: ----------
: tip the velvet. 'To tongue a woman'(B.E.['s _Dictionary of the
Canting Crew_, prob. dated 1698-9]): late C. 17-20: c[ant] >, by
1800, low s[lang] (Grose, [_Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_,] 1st
ed.)
: From _A Dictionary of Slang and Uncoventional English, 8th edition_
() by E. Partridge & P. Beale
: ----------
: VELVET, a Tongue. Tip the Velvet; To tongue a Woman.
: From B.E.'s _Dictionary of the Canting Crew
: ----------
: TO TIP. To give or lend. Tip me your daddle; give me your hand.
Tip me a hog; give me a shilling. To tip the lion; to flatten a
man's nose with the thumb, and, at the same time to extend his mouth,
with the fingers, thereby giving him a sort of lion-like countenauce.
To tip the velvet; tonguing woman....
: From Grose's _Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_ Grose

I also saw the websites about the BBC production, and a question
came to my mind. May this term be used generally, or only for lesbian
relationships? (The definitions above don't imply an exclusivity,
but I thought that it may exist).